Anyone experiencing any LED light failures?

[CitadelBlue]

I ve been using CFL 60 and 100 watt equivalent bulbs for 10 years at our church. Some have lasted 10 years. Some fail weekly.

 

[bjcouche]

I just replaced another Cree Par 30 in the kitchen. I checked the data I wrote on it when I installed it. It lasted 18 months. I have a couple Halogen Par 30's on the same switch and I get about 3 years out of them. I'm starting to wonder where the savings is, even after factoring in the electricity savings, the halogen bulbs seem to be more economical. The halogen costs more to operate, but the bulb costs half as much and lasts twice as long. I've been a fan of LED's but this is ridiculous. I'm wondering if I should design my own quality driver circuitry, buy a set of new LED bulbs and rip the Chinese drivers out of them from the get go and install a driver that will last the 10 years promised.
Brian

 

[Jazz1]

I switched to T5 instead of the pricier LEDS. Vendor was aware of other lower priced LEDs on the market but as a industrial supplier he said they would not carry inferior product line.

 

[cory58]

I just replaced another Cree Par 30 in the kitchen. I checked the data I wrote on it when I installed it. It lasted 18 months.

One CREE failure so far after about a year. The first batch of CREE I bought at HD were "assembled in USA". Just bought some more CREE at HD, a single PAR 38 and multi-pack of standard lamp bulbs - all made in China.

Et tu, CREE? Sad.

 

[reader2580]

One CREE failure so far after about a year. The first batch of CREE I bought at HD were "assembled in USA". Just bought some more CREE at HD, a single PAR 38 and multi-pack of standard lamp bulbs - all made in China.

Et tu, CREE? Sad.

I bet the parts were still the same Chinese parts when assembled in the USA. The final assembly country just changed.

 

[frugalscotty]

I think it's a **** shoot to some degree. I've had a couple of no name chinese inports in my porch lights for about 5 years running from dusk to dawn with no sign of failure. These two bulbs have heat sink fins around the base which may be the secret.

Flip side is I bought several GE branded bulbs when Target was running a promotion sponsored by the local power company. Most of these failed within a year.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Pick two: bright, cheap or high quality.

I bought some Feit LED "tube" fixtures from Costco before Christmas. I think they have all 3 qualities. Okay at $20 they are not the cheapest you can buy, but I thought the price was reasonable. Very happy with them.

 

[600SL]

The company I work for switched from HID to high bay LED's about 2 years ago. I seen them replace about 3 so far. I will estimate there are about 30 of them in the hanger. so 10% failure rate in 2 years.

 

[jives]

We've just had a GE interior flood light (R40 bulb for recessed lighting) fail at less than a year old.The LEDs did not fail, but something plastic or metal inside the bulb plastic housing came loose and is rattling around.

 

[AntonLargiader]

I put ten FEIT BR30s into the cans in our kitchen ceiling, and one failed fairly soon. This was maybe a year ago. Haven't pursued a replacement yet since we had extras.

 

[Streetbu]

I've had multiple CFL failures from different brands and wattage. Others have been going fine for years now. Just started switching to LED, both screw in and 4' fixtures. So far no issues but it hasn't been a year yet so I'm not holding my breath.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

I bought some Feit LED "tube" fixtures from Costco before Christmas. I think they have all 3 qualities. Okay at $20 they are not the cheapest you can buy, but I thought the price was reasonable. Very happy with them.

I picture a self contained fixture with a single bulb, about 18" long, with a cord and plug??

 

[My Old Tools]

We have probably 40 of the Feit PAR 38 LED bulbs in recessed cans in our house. Most have been in use for 2+ years. Zero failures so far. I have 16 of the original Costco Feit LED 4 foot fixtures, no pull string, in my shop. Zero failures. We had one candelabra base LED bulb from a lighting store go out after a year. No idea what brand.

I just installed 69 of the EcoSmart PAR 38 bulbs in cans in the lake house we are remodeling. One was DOA but I admit it was dropped from a ladder about 8 feet on a tile floor. Time will tell how they do. The rest are 60 watt and 100 watt equivalent Feit bulbs from Costco.

 

[Sal Bandini]

I had a candelabra style Costco LED go bad. It is in the coach light on the garage so maybe weather is a factor.

Regarding CFL durability, my experience is not the same as on this thread. It seems like the BR30 in my basement all burned out, and some of my G30 did as well on the vanity fixture. Maybe it is because they are enclosed. I replaced with Costco LED and no problems since.

 

[seber]

I bought eight cheap ones of two different brands about two months ago. After three weeks they started EXPLODING. The capacitor is filled with some kind of fiber that expands explosively inside the metal can. When they blow the plastic lens flies off at high velocity. Five of them went before I tossed the rest. I think I'll wait for the market to mature a bit more.

 

[classic boost]

i'm very disappointed with led life expectancy also. mine last 6mo to a yr. i'm seriously reconsidering not going led when i do lighting in my garage.

 

[cybrdyke]

I bought eight cheap ones of two different brands about two months ago. After three weeks they started EXPLODING. The capacitor is filled with some kind of fiber that expands explosively inside the metal can. When they blow the plastic lens flies off at high velocity. Five of them went before I tossed the rest. I think I'll wait for the market to mature a bit more.

Consider contacting the manufacturer about that. Or the CPSC. They'll want to know about it.
CD

 

[cory58]

One CREE failure so far after about a year.

Update: CREE bulbs are failing one-by-one. Up to 4 so far. None have been in use more than 2 years, some much less. Very disappointed.

Lost the receipts from my main original purchase of 16 bulbs. Now I've used up all the follow-up receipts for exchanges at HD, so I plan to collect 3-4 failed bulbs, send them to CREE and see how they respond.

Cory

 

[Junkman]

At work, under a Utility contract, they replaced all outdoor lighting, and inside lighting. The inside lighting has been bulletproof, but so far, 2 of the outside lights have failed. They replaced on of the wall pack flood lights under a manufacturers warranty, and I am still waiting to see if the under canopy light that has failed will also be replaced. These weren't cheap units, the flood light was manufactured by RAB, and the under canopy light is a Sylvania. The one interesting thing is that there was very little savings on the inside lighting, since they replaced 2 year old energy saving ballasts with basically the same ballast. I asked why they changed out the ballasts, and the answer was, since they guarantee the lighting for 3 years, they didn't want to come back for a defective ballast. The store has much better lighting with the LED's, but not so much for savings. We are saving with the outside lighting, since those were high pressure sodium lights.
At home, I have experienced some LED bulb failures, but it seems that if they are going to fail, they fail almost immediately. One wall fixture was fine, until I leaned a ladder against it and the sudden "bang" was enough to kill that bulb.